Tasteful interior designers - what do you make of this little house in Islington, London

What is it with Brits and awful (AWFUL) wall paper.

Yes, the garden and the garden views at the back rather seduced me too.

[quote]What is it with Brits and awful (AWFUL) wall paper

I think the French are much worse - and they wallpaper everything, including the doors.

It's horrible for the price. Needs a lot of work. That wallpaper is hideous and the bathroom is a joke. I'd not pay $250,000.00 US for it.

Ridiculous price for such a pokey house. And you're amongst people who keep voting for Jeremy Corbyn. Ugh.

[quote]And you're amongst people who keep voting for Jeremy Corbyn. Ugh.

Wha'?

I will never get used to seeing a washer/dryer in the very middle of the kitchen, like you're planning to eat your clothes.

That has a lot of potential, but it will need a lot of work. The kitchen looks as if it would at least be usable as it is even if it isnt exactly nice. Adding a bathroom on the top floor and redoing the existing one will cost, along with renewing all the flooring, and clearing up the garden. I dont know what work the garden would need , all I know is its a whole lot

Restored to its original era look it could be beautiful though. And its not a hell of a long way from Hampstead Heath either which is a plus

I would preserve the wallpapers. They're fabulous!

Love that Audi sitting out front 😍

Typhoon need for renovations and redecorating is already priced in to the £1.3 m flyoverstanis!

What a DUMP!

We tried our best to make it cozy.

depressing

Terrible.

How on earth would you get a bathroom upstairs without losing the second bedroom - you'd have to add on at the back which would be a very big deal.

floor plan >

Grubby.

Needs another 200-300k to bring it into the 21st century.

Be gentle, it's Europe.

Is it pronounced IZ-lington or EYE-lington? And what's the area like?

^...... proper folks say IZ-lington.

Op, it's great. Strip it back to...the studs..or whatever is there and go for broke. Is there any rising damp?????

[quote]Is it pronounced IZ-lington or EYE-lington? And what's the area like?

Islington has some very wealthy parts (mansions) and some very poor parts.

It's used as a by word for the "North London liberal elite" - Tony Blair lived there and pair of right cunts Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry are both MPs for the area. Corbyn lives in a grotty old house with his 3rd wife but Thornberry lives in a mansion with her husband The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Nugee.

That's the same Emily Thornberry who took a photo of a house with a Union Jack flags hanging outside and a white van on the drive and tweeted it, suggesting the owners were racist. And the same Emily Thornberry who told an MP in an area where people voted for Brexit "I'm glad my constituents aren't as stupid as yours".

Do you think the Americans will have any interest in any of that, R22?

Could you be more of a CUNT R23? You're the one who posted a house in London. Don't you have a Walmart to run off to, you basic twat?

Thank you Dutchie. Can I ask a person question, have you ever been passed on the right hand side?

Have I ever been passed on the right-hand side, R25?

Why, yes, I have — this very morning an old dear on the outer-right lane on the highway decided she was suddenly in a hurry, and she sped right by me.

Hw about the left hand side?

Yawn

Dutchie - I troll-dard you following your silly post to see if we've crossed before, ready to be bugged and I found this on the "Warthogs Are Not Dollface" thread

& you wrote:

Donkeys are Dollface

How can I be cross with someone who writes "Donkeys are Dollface"? It's not possible.

YOU win!

R22 - please come back and tell us more about the politicians who have lived and still live in Islington. I know Dutchie will be interested and I promise won't be rude.

We never did learn how to pronounce it

Iz-Ling-Ton

OP I had no idea you were a fellow donkey-friend R29

I like it. For the money to buy it and maje some modest improvements, I'd put my money elsewhere without hesitation.

I'd keep the essence of the plan. Most of the work would take place on the ground floor. The kitchen is a decent size and already communicates with the small room to the rear, to which I would add a second narrow cut in the wall to make two points of circulation between kitchen and rear room -- making the garden facing run of counter into an almost "island" that you could pass through toward each end. In the rear garden room I would expand the door as a three-part multi-paned window (the central section a glazed door. All this to open some light and views to an almost lively garden and tiny patio the bathroom I would leave where it is.

If you insisted on a second bathroom there's not much to do but sacrifice the left side of the front bedroom as a bathroom; the remaining bedroom is big enough to do the job and still has nice light.

The horrible concrete brick fireplaces have to go. The walls are easily cleaned and repainted, and the floors look easily refinished (in the ground floor, I would use antique stone flags with underfloor heat.

It's a small house with something of a sonehwhat bigger house scale and quality. It's a good street and a beautiful garden view out the back. To live with what it is, there's a very nice house within easy grasp.

This is an absolutely beautiful part of London, and Upper street which is a stone’s throw from the house, is one of the most elegant and sophisticated high streets in the city. Most people who live in IZ-lington are very well educated, with lucrative careers. They are the epitome of “Guardian reading, liberal elite” that the Daily Mail and other far-right outlets love to hate. A good friend of mine lives there, and I always stay at his place when I come to London. I absolutely love the area.

City on fire!

Well I like the wallpaper guess I’m part of the minority on DL.

[quote]Most people who live in IZ-lington are very well educated, with lucrative careers.

FACT CHECK

The Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2019, ranked Islington as the 53rd most deprived local authority area in England (out of 317 local authorities) and 6th most deprived local authority in London (out of 33) It has the 10th highest level of income deprivation affecting children, and 4th highest in England for income deprivation affecting older people.

yes, it's very divided and a very large borough - Barnsbury where this is is especially beautiful - but I think even some of the niest streets and squares fell into disrepair and gradually began to be tarted up in the 1960s.

There's a documentary online they made n 1966 about various residents of an Islington Square - now the houses sell for millions.

Found it - this is just one of the six residents they featured, all of very different classes. Check out her accent, Americans!

Yet, r37, as your own link says, it has "good supply of local jobs, access to the wider London economy, a rich cultural heritage, and some of the highest property prices in the country".

Huge income disparity is typical of London boroughs, it's nothing specific to Islington. The following can also be said of Islington:

[quote]In 2019/20, 22% of people in the borough lived in households with an income of less than 60% the UK median after housing costs have been subtracted. This was around the same as the average London Borough.

[quote]38% of children in the borough lived in households with an income of less than 60% the UK median after housing costs have been subtracted in 2020/21. This was around the same as the average London Borough.

[quote]In Islington, 13.5% of residents were estimated to be earning below the Living Wage in 2021. This was better than the average London Borough.

[quote]The unemployment rate for 2019-22 Q2 was 4% in Islington, better than the average London Borough.

Yes, R37, London is like that. Social housing housing is rarely absent from any neighborhood and sometimes found in substantial concentrations within what would otherwise be very solidly prosperous neighborhoods.

More than one Islington friend has pointed to a row of Georgian terrace houses, undistinguished from any other, and identified them as council houses because of the uniform single piece of door hardware. The mean little "door cylinder pull" that frames the lock and serves double duty as a pull -- no door knob, nor proper pull, just a little ledge on which to grip s finger, like a pull tab from a beer can. It's an ugly piece of hardware that's now fairly ubiquitous in the UK, but when found without a knob or pull or other hardware: council housing.

All I can come up with is this - What would Jesus say? He's so polite you know.

Jizzlington

I hate, hate, hate most European bathrooms. Always small, moldy looking, places that seem like an afterthought. Rarely do they put real style or comfort into those places. This is yet another to remind me of the horrors middle class Europeans endure while taking a shit, shower, or bath.

Put in a proper glass shower. Update the walls, remove that hideous sink. Add ventilation. Redo the floors. Add shelving.

You need one of those towel warmer racks in your bathroom over there otherwise your bath towels will stay damp after use. It’s a wet little island.

R43, I just looked up some pictures of American bathrooms and they're not that dissimilar to modern European bathrooms.

What's your problem with sinks? The point of shelving in a bathroom is what?

FYI: no wall sockets allowed in British bathrooms.

R1 was about to type just that. Ugly carpeting too.

Americans have wall sockets in their bathrooms?

Yes they do and I believe light switches as well.

R7, welcome to life outside the United States. They don't have the space, and washers/dryers (combo) needed to go where the plumbing is...either the kitchen or the bathroom.

It needs another bathroom. Look past the hideous wallpaper and look for the potential...it has a lot. And it's a nice sized garden.

Oh, and R7, if you have a washer and dryer in a NYC apartment, it's often in the kitchen.

The W/D in the kitchen doesn't particularly bother me. The bathroom is hideous.

[quote]The bathroom is hideous.

It looks like a bathroom for a cripple. Handles everywhere.

[quote]It needs another bathroom.

But where? It would be a shame to lose the back bedroom with the views over the gardens on the first (American second) floor. Maybe it's very tricky hence why no one's put a second bathroom in yet.

My parents once lived in a London house which backed onto the grounds of an old manor house - it was fantastic to see in the middle of London, this old country house with a garden the size of a football pitch. Very rural and unmaintained. Trouble was, the only room with a view of this was the fucking bathroom, like in this house that had been a bedroom.

Location, Location, Location

American here. I don't see a problem w/the washer in the kitchen, esp. in a small space. It makes sense to have all the stuff that needs water in one area.

Can anyone explain this bathroom, though? Why is the shower wall so low? Never mind, I see a shower rod with no shower curtain.

[quote]Americans have wall sockets in their bathrooms?

I've never seen a house, apartment, or hotel room in the US that didn't have at least one electrical outlet.

Of course we have wall sockets in the bathroom but not enough. Hair dryer, water piks, electric razors right now I have a power strip in mine.

I can’t believe nobody has thought of it, but for everyone wondering where you put a second bathroom….you just stack a new one on top of the first, it’s not rocket science. So you have one on each stair return. Better yet, knock the lower one…and rebuild it with a slightly larger footprint so you have two new very comfortably sized bathrooms.

Yes r52, looks like the current/previous inhabitant is disabled.

What do all the 200-300 year-old houses in the middle of a dense, urban area in the US look like?

Doesn't sound very safe to have sockets in the bathroom, and why would you want to dry your hair in there when it's all steamy?

Water and electricity make a potentially lethal combination so the only sockets that should be nearby in a bathroom are special shaver sockets which are designed to keep the user away from the electrical circuit to minimise the risk of electric shocks (also used for electric toothbrushes). I would never use a hairdryer nor a power strip in a bathroom unless it's huge.

R61 sockets in the bathroom are common down under - but they always have RCD protection (residual current device)

r45 American bathrooms are typically much warmer, slightly larger, and less utilitarian. European bathrooms are still stuck on white features everywhere. I get. a white toilet, but a boring old white sink? Uh, it's the 2020s, let's upgrade.

This rant is 100% a cultural thing. This is an instance when I feel on average American bathrooms are more comfortable and thoughtful.

[quote]Can anyone explain this bathroom, though? Why is the shower wall so low? Never mind, I see a shower rod with no shower curtain.

An elderly person lived there going by the bathroom design and the state of the garden That would explain why the house has been gutted.

A nice wad of inheritance tax going to the government.

Looking at the street view you can see how one of the houses has opened up entirely at the back with huge windows. Probably not that pleasant on a day like today.

American bathrooms have electrical sockets. No, not right next to the bathtub or shower, but yes next to the sink.

R64, I've just done a complete renovation of my suburban London house, including the bathroom, and I can assure you, British/European bathrooms are not still stuck on white. Aside from the furnishings, however, why would you want a basin or a bathtub that's not white?

My new bathroom tiles, they're lovely.

Bland but will be easy to sell on.

I'm not planning on selling, r68.

I meant white in general which is why most people do it - it's just inoffensive for a bathroom.

Beige? Seems to be in fashion at the moment for sure.

I like the beige, or variations of beige. It's soothing and makes soaking in the tub more relaxing and gives the bathroom a different vibe from the rest of the house. It is a trend of the moment, but it's not unpleasant.

I think part of the reason for white is that it makes the space look bigger.

During my house renovation explorations, I discovered that what Americans call a "British kitchen" is what we in the UK call a shaker kitchen, i.e. it has more of an American origin (New England, if you like).

People are talking about the wallpaper etc like it’s something you’d actually have to live with. This house obviously hasn’t been updated in a million years and will be completely stripped back and renovated. It’s a Georgian house in Barnsbury, that’s all that matters. When it’s restored it will be great.

Looks like it's been listed with another agent - better, clearer photos if you're interested.

My main problem with wallpaper is that it's actually very hard to get off. I'm a little surprised that people haven't invented or don't widely use easy to get off wallpaper.

I lived in the street next to this one for 30 years. That is a rare unmodernised house on a beautiful street in a great solidly middle class area. It is obviously priced as a renovation project. The houses on this street are not as big and grand as on some of the surrounding streets. But not everyone wants or can afford a big grand house.

[quote]But not everyone wants or can afford a big grand house.

Things are pretty messed up when this somewhat modest terrace house that needs renovation costs £1.3m plus stamp duty.

[quote]solidly middle class area.

Upper middle class at best.

The house next door was on the market 15 years ago after an open plan renovation

[quote]My main problem with wallpaper is that it's actually very hard to get off.

Maybe, but whoever buys this house is not going to be steaming off the wallpaper themselves. The project will be handed over to a very capable team of Polish or Lithuanian builders & decorators and four months later the new owner will move into a very nice house.

And this house is 2 doors down.

There is a block of 6 terraced houses, 3 x double windows and 3x single windows.

The house on sale is single window house, this is one of the double window houses

All of the other houses in that block have extended into the garden. For this property it's just the bathroom

R77 What is your point?

R82 Obviously that no 'solidly middle class' people would be able to afford a £1.3m house. The average UK salary is £38,600. Don't play stupid.

By the way, typically people who give out mortgages will give you at most 4x your income. 4x £38,600 is £156,000. Now let's assume that you have a partner earning the same. That gets what you can buy up to.... £312,000!

Even if you think London salaries are much above average, doubling that still only gets you to £624,000!

A 'solidly middle class' person simply cannot afford a house like this. That's just the facts of it.

R83 Many of the people who live in that street will have lived there many years, some for decades. Many will have bought and sold a few times before living there.

I lived in a much grander street than this one and in a more expensive property. I was not born into money and I never earned more than £40K per year. I bought, lived in and sold six places to be able to do that.

And by the way, in the 90’s certain banks would loan you whatever you asked for, is all you had to do was state on the application forms what your salary was. The Royal Bank of Scotland did this as I had a mortgage with them at one time.

You are obviously an old person. But now more and more this kind of area is being priced out of truly 'solidly middle class' people. Houses are being sold, people are moving out.

OMG R85 is Colin and Justin!

R86 I have just turned 64. I retired at 52, sold and moved to a (what was then) cheaper area 30 minutes walk away.

R88 That is old. Delusional if you claim otherwise, honestly. You're in the latter third of your life.

R88 Also I would advise against applying your own experience to that of younger people. The market and job situations really aren't the same. You come across as myopic and self-absorbed if you don't try to understand what it really is like.

R88 Of course I’m old, I’m not pretending otherwise. I’m was just telling you how old I am, there is a big difference between say 60 and 90. I have been perfectly civil and friendly replying to you on this thread, so why are you being such a cunt?

Oh dear, you are not one of those 45 year old teenagers that I see still renting rooms are you? See, now we are both cunts. Now take your miserable bitter arse away from this thread.

[quote]45 year old teenagers

Oh, dear!

[quote]why are you being such a cunt?

Because YOU are being a cunt. Claiming that anyone can afford a £1.3m house even though wages have nowhere NEAR kept up with house prices. Fuck you and people like you.

Baby Boomers are honestly the most disgusting and entitled people around. I fucking hate all of them. The hatred they show towards younger generations is like nothing else. What do they expect? Hate begets hate.

[quote]But now more and more this kind of area is being priced out of truly 'solidly middle class' people. Houses are being sold, people are moving out.

WTF are you on about, R86, other than to show us that you're argumentative to s fault? Do you want us to believe that not many years ago this street was inhabited by taxi drivers and market stall vendors? Middling level civil servants and clerical workers and shop owners?

And maybe learn the difference between "at best" and "at least" (R77).

[quote]maybe learn the difference between "at best" and "at least"

What's the difference? How did I use it wrongly? I was saying that *at best* that area would be upper middle class - i.e. *some* upper middle class people could afford it (many can't).

Class aside for a moment. Islington was always famous as the GAYEST residential area of London. Don't know if this is still so.

[quote] Islington was always famous as the GAYEST residential area of London.

I always thought this was Soho but of course Soho has probably been priced out now.

No - Soho was never where gays actually lived.

R93 Apologies, I am not fully up to date with London and UK property prices. These days I spend much of my time at my sea front summer house in Europe. But if you are interested property prices here are booming, my house has easily doubled in price since I bought it16 years ago. Ok that’s not London price increases, but still not too shabby.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, anything good planned?

[quote] These days I spend much of my time at my sea front summer house in Europe. But if you are interested property prices here are booming, my house has easily doubled in price since I bought it16 years ago. Ok that’s not London price increases, but still not too shabby. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, anything good planned?

Proud to be an ignorant cunt. Good to know. Not particularly inspiring for your generation though.

[quote]These days I spend much of my time at my sea front summer house in Europe.

^ Fake post - no one talks this way.

R97 Yes you are right, Islington had the second highest number of gay bars in London behind Soho for many years. I think they have mostly all gone now. But it was a very cruise area back in the day.

R102 I think that quite a few Baby Boomers can afford that kind of thing. But it's at the cost of a lot of people.

[R97] Yes you are right, Islington had the second highest number of gay bars in London behind Soho for many years. I think they have mostly all gone now. But it was a very cruise area back in the day.

Nonsense. You're a troll. Everything you say is fake.

Hope you're enjoying your "sea front summer house in Europe"

I'll re-do that.

[quote][[R97]] Yes you are right, Islington had the second highest number of gay bars in London behind Soho for many years. I think they have mostly all gone now. But it was a very cruise area back in the day.

Nonsense. You're a troll. Everything you say is fake.

Hope you're enjoying your "sea front summer house in Europe"

R102. Really. I am sat on my sofa right now with my iPad looking out to the sea. However it is an unusually miserable day, cloudy and it’s just started to drizzle with rain, but not the heavy rain that was forecast for noon time.

You know we should really meet up the next time I’m in London, it would seem we are not far from each other. It would be nice to have a coffee.

I don't think so gurl.

R107 No-one wants a coffee with your nasty ass.

Didn’t there used to be a debtors’ prison in Islington?

R97 Islington was known as a very bohemian area especially in the 80’s and 90’s. There are several well know theatre pubs that have been around for decades, plus the Almeda theatre, Sadlers Wells ballet company and theatre. There were about 8 gay bars and a great club called Paradise.

The area attracted musicians, actors, writers, journalists etc There was a feminist bookshop called Sisterwrite on the high street. Islington was famous for its many cottages, Joe Orton mentions them in his dairies, and the large open space Highbury Fields was a cruising are on an evening. There were three separate cottages/toilets in that park alone.

In the 80’s the area became much more gentrified which of course made property more expensive. This continued into the 90’s when Islington became a very desirable place to live. Many media folk live there, In my street alone lived three National newspaper editors, two pop stars, my next door neighbour was/still is a newsreader for the BBC.

Sadly these days the area is mostly boring and generic, the character of the place has gone, the remaining bohemian eccentrics etc moved out years ago. But this happens everywhere, Manhattan the same thing happened.

That part of Islington is definitely out of reach for “solidly middle class people”. Only bankers, lawyers, etc. on 6 figure salary can afford to live there. And even by London standards, this will put them into upper middle class territory. I’m with R84.

The original shutters are always a big selling point in old London houses - "OMG! They have the original shutters!" people say...along with original fireplaces.

& I love the big windows.

Back in the 50s and 60s my family used to live in what were then rundown parts of London, like Islington and Archway, then moved further up North London as they got a little more financially secure. These once rundown areas are now gentrified, trendy and inaccessible for the average person. The houses they owned would be worth well over £1 million today.

Can someone explain the window in the kitchen photo? The floor plan has it as an interior room.

Since y’all say it’s a $$$ area, I’d bump out the exterior back wall level with the bathroom. Stack bathrooms on the two upper floor landings. Glass the entire back wall except for the bathrooms.

The floor plan shows a little garden outside the kitchen window, r116, as can also be seen in the photo.

[quote]Can someone explain the window in the kitchen photo? The floor plan has it as an interior room.

The street entrance is the upper ground floor. The kitchen / garden is below street level so the kitchen window gets light from the street but you can't see much out from it. Bigger houses would have steps going down to a door in the kitchen, a tradesman's entrance for when the butcher delivers the offal for M'Lady's luncheon.

Is there a swimming pool, sauna and room for a pony?

This is quite pleasant and close by

Really lovely r120

Just a touch more expensive than the first property though.

Owen Jones lives in Islington and has probably hooked up in that house.

It's a tip compared to my home in Holland Park with the seventy-foot drawing room and a west-facing garden. And I mean Holland Park. It's not on the outskirts, either. It's not the edge of Holland Park. This is the rich heartland of Holland Park, not Shepherd's Bush.

[quote]Owen Jones lives in Islington

Owen Jones is nearly 40 and shares a flat with 2 other people.

Is the only option for your car street parking? That would be a deal breaker for me.

Regarding US outlets in bathrooms, building codes require them to be ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) receptacles that can automatically shut off power directly at the outlet when it detects an electrical fault. GFCI outlets should be installed in any potentially wet or damp area such as kitchens, bathrooms, laundry rooms, outdoor spaces, basements, garages and workshops.

Regarding blow drying hair in a damp bathroom, US building codes require bathrooms to have exhaust fans. When mine are running moisture in my bathroom is gone in a minute or two after showering.

The Brits love cheap and combined plumbing. That washer/dryer that is so disconcerting, in the kitchen, would have a toilet and shower right next to them if cheap assed Brits had their way.

Houses have washing machines in the kitchen because that's where the plumbing is. Installing additional plumbing for the sole use of a washing machine so it can be located elsewhere is not an efficient use of space.

The thought of large electrical appliances in a bathroom is very bizarre.

These days modern apartments in the UK have the washer/dryer in a hallway cupboard along with the boiler. Bigger houses have a separate utility room to the kitchen.

Mine's in what must have originally been the coal cellar and outside lav.

[quote]Is the only option for your car street parking? That would be a deal breaker for me.

Yes, terraced houses only have street parking, and obviously you're not guaranteed a spot right outside your house.

I live in a very nice town next to an established city where those with aspirations move. My house is an ex council house, huge back garden, front garden which has been turned into a driveway.

House prices in my area have rocketed over the last 3 years whereas the posh part of town (terraced houses, back yards) are stagnant. Parking is part of it, especially as people move to electric cars and can only charge them by running a cable from inside their terraced house over the pavement to the car.

[quote]I live in a very nice town next to an established city

Where do you live, gurl?

Don't be shy.

His mum and dad, r125?

I have recently done a major house renovation and have had to study many of these issues. Part of the problem in the UK is that we have loads - and I mean loads - of old housing stock, much of it interwar if not older.

In my street, the garages were originally at the back of the garden, accessed via a special road. I don't think anyone's driven down that now very overgrown road in decades. Everyone has instead converted their front garden into a driveway and the former garage into an outhouse.

Many people are also doing loft conversions, to add an extra bedroom and bathroom or shower.

My house is not big but the previous owner had a sizeable kitchen and dining room extension done, which has given me a very large kitchen/family room as well as another living room at the front. My London suburb is not a trendy one but it's less than a 10 minute-walk to the local "town" shopping area, with loads of shops and other amenities, the public library, large public park. It's one of those old "towns" or villages that got sucked into an expanding London, so it has still has some of that quaint old English market town feel, with the old pubs, old churches and church gardens (and old graveyards), a pretty canal, cute little cottages and glamorous 19th-century villas, and lots of greenery. It has good connections to central London as well as other parts of North London and the big box out-of-town stores and megaplex cinema, which although ugly are very convenient.

I laugh to myself sometimes when people complain that they can't afford to live in London, when they insist on living in Hackney. If they just moved 15 minutes further out on public transport they could live very decently.

[quote]I laugh to myself sometimes when people complain that they can't afford to live in London, when they insist on living in Hackney.

Hackney? Is that the new Belgravia? Strange example.

[quote]I don't think anyone's driven down that now very overgrown road in decades. Everyone has instead converted their front garden into a driveway and the former garage into an outhouse.

What a fucking blight, all over the UK. (multiple images at link)

Who wants green garden in front of his house when he can pave it like a dental surgery parking lot.

Who fucking needs a car in Islington anyway?

[quote]Who fucking needs a car in Islington anyway?

I do.

[quote]accessed via a special road.

We yanks call them alleys.

You're a bit out of date, r135, if you're unaware of how hip Hackney is and how expensive it's become (and also if you use Belgravia as your reference point). Hackney is the new Islington. I gave it as an example because it's on the same general public transport routes as my suburb.

[quote]Hackney Wick in east London has been crowned the ‘coolest’ place to live in London, according to a new survey.

[quote]The area came out top on a Naturecan poll of 5,000 people, dubbing it the trendiest spot in the capital.

[quoteYou're a bit out of date, [R135], if you're unaware of how hip Hackney is and how expensive it's become

I sort of knew - I didn't believe it and would not have considered it a good example for the point you were making. I live nr Olympia. Hackney might as well be in another country. Though now I've discovered Lime bikes I'm getting all over the place.

[quote]Hackney is the new Islington.

I'm shaking my head in disbelief. I went to a sort of college there (lasted about a week) back in...a long time ago. I remember the graffiti "RICH SCUM OUT!" Guess that didn't work.

[quote]I gave it as an example because it's on the same general public transport routes as my suburb.

Do you live in Essex?

There's a big property auction today.

I'll link to London properties. Might interest some people following this thread.

I bought a pretty decent flat in Hackney about 25 years ago for 90k because it was all I could afford, and Hackney was certainly not cool then. It has changed a lot.

No r141, I live in North London. Actually, I could also have given the example of Islington, because because there's also a direct line to Highbury and Islington near me.

It's nuts how house prices have risen, r143. I can't imagine buying a house in London today.

R135 A house sold in Dalston Hackney for £10 million last year. Hackney has been cool for a long time now. Dalston reminds me very much of the lower east side of Manhattan in the 90’s / early 00’s.

In England it is a sin to sit in or spend any time whatsoever enjoying one’s front garden. It just isn’t done except to keep it tidy.

we used to sit jn our front garden on Flood Street back in the day - the back got no sun - even the dog wouldn't go out there. No one thought us odd.

R134 I am guessing that you live in Enfield?

Maybe, r148.

There are too many Muzzies in Islington and Hackney.

If I needed a parking space, I sure as hell would pave the front of the house.

Obviously not designed for old people if the bedrooms are on the top floor and the bathroom is on the garden level. Long way to go if you have to get up in the night.

Where would meals be served? In that space between the bathroom and kitchen?

[quote] Owen Jones is nearly 40 and shares a flat with 2 other people.

I think he currently resides with his Muslim boyfriend and their two cats.

^hawt

R149 I will take that as a yes. I don’t know Enfield well but I have been there. The transport links you mentioned to Highbury & Islington plus your description of the area tell me it’s Enfield area. I spent a morning there just before lockdown, there is a hi-fi shop there and I was testing out a system. The area looked lovely and very residential, at least the parts I saw from the station to the hi-if shop. Some pretty streets, nice looking pubs, parks and green areas.

Your description was correct, it looks like a little town that was swallowed up by London, but has held onto its character. I was surprised by how much it didn’t feel like London given how not very far away it is. This has encouraged me to go take another visit this summer.

Haha, I knew the Highbury & Islington reference would give it away, r155. I wouldn't say Enfield, or Enfield Town, is anywhere particularly exciting for a day trip and it's very "suburban Britain" as a place to live, but it's not a bad place to grow up and live. I read so many stories these days about how people can't afford to live in London, but I suspect they'd find something more affordable to rent, at least, if they looked a little outside of certain areas. I also like the fact that it's very near the countryside (e.g. there are farms nearby that you can visit and pick your own or buy their fresh produce) but also 30-40 minutes from central London (that's very close in London terms!).

[bold]SOLD![/bold]

Crikey!

Some Pakistani moving up in life from Ealing Southall now that the programming firm has taken off.

That house was never going to hang around at that price, it was priced to sell. Even if you spend £200.000 on updating it you will have a really nice house in a great area for £1.5 million. That is about the price of a really good apartment in a nice part of Islington, which this is.

R159 No wrong area, you obviously don’t know London very well.

It did hang around for a while, r160, and it's a house, not an apartment.

Wrong area and wrong understanding of the aspirations of different social groups in London and the UK as a whole, r161 (and r159).

R162 Yes I know, I was talking about the area. £1.5 million including updating for a house like that is not that expensive, it’s the same price as a really good 2 bed flat in that area. A house would always be a better option I would say.

We don't know what went on behind the scene, it could be that there were several interested parties and it went to sealed bids. They don’t always update the listings straight away. But then again the market has apparently cooled this year so who knows.

R163 I have had property in that area of London for 40 years, I understand it very well.

R156 I visited Enfield Chase, I’m not sure if that is were you live. It did feel very suburban and to me quite countryside, but not in a bad way. I was surprised how different it was to inner London with only a few stops on the train. It has great train links to the city, for those that work there. Finsbury Park is easy to get to for the tube network.

As you said before, you could get a lot more for your money in Enfield with either buying or selling, and it’s not that far out, you are still in London.

[quote]As you said before, you could get a lot more for your money in Enfield with either buying or selling, and it’s not that far out, you are still in London.

Living in London means walking out your front door into real London - not having to get on a train.

[quote]Yes I know, I was talking about the area. £1.5 million including updating for a house like that is not that expensive, it’s the same price as a really good 2 bed flat in that area. A house would always be a better option I would say.

Definitely. There are so many restrictions when you buy a flat and all sorts of annual charges that can increase overnight.

No thanks.

R165, you might have property in that area but you don't understand other areas.

Lol r167, where in London do you live then? There's probably not a single person anywhere in "real" London who doesn't have to take some form of public transport or drive to work, unless they work in a shop on the local High Street, but presumably anywhere with a local High Street wouldn't be "real" London for you.

I live not far from Enfield Chase, r166, although the actual house where I grew up was nearer the Piccadilly line tube (I didn't really like that area, despite it being "posher"). It's a perfectly reasonable place, with more affordable (albeit still very expensive) housing.

R167 Is somebody who visited London once and stayed in a Premier Inn on Euston Road.

R170 Actually yes I do.